by Lola Taylor
Danica chewed on her tongue. This world was turning out to be more and more complex by the minute. She wondered if they had some sort of supernatural Bible she could learn from.
“Why do you think they want to kill me?” she asked.
Gage’s gaze turned deadly. “More than likely to unseat me. Could be for revenge, one of the contenders for Alpha I beat when I claimed this pack as my own.”
Danica grasped his forearm and squeezed.
He squeezed her hand back. “It’ll be all right. I’ll keep you safe.” He pressed a kiss to her head.
Danica smiled. She could look out for herself—had been for a while now—but it was nice to know someone cared.
They sat like that for a while before Gage murmured, “I need to check on Nik, see how things are going with the arrangements.”
She nodded. “Of course. Whatever you need.”
He stroked her cheek, staring into her eyes. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”
Her cheeks grew warmer. “Well, I consider myself pretty lucky to have met you.” She pecked a kiss to his lips. “And I want you to know I’m here for you, no matter what.”
His shoulders visibly slacked as he rested his forehead against hers. They both closed their eyes, enjoying a moment’s peace.
Sort of.
It began with a kiss, a slight tug of the bottom lip, which quickly turned into something much hotter as hands began to roam over naked flesh. Breaking away when she reached for his hardening erection, Gage said, “Soon. I promise.”
Kissing her hard, he stood and started toward the door. “I’ll post guards outside. Yell if you need anything, or just think my name. I’ll hear you. I’ll be back soon.” With one last, lingering look, he strode out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Danica stood there for a moment, debating what to do. Next to hot sex with Gage, one thing in particular sounded wonderful.
Heading to the massive bathroom connected to the bedroom, the first thing she did was take a nice, long bath. After filling the tub with sweet-smelling bubble bath she’d found amongst some more feminine products she assumed Gage had set aside for her use, she lounged in the steamy water.
It was a pity her intended couldn’t join her. She saw the fear reflected in his eyes as he spoke of the attempt on her life, and she wanted to do something to make it go away. The fact he worried so much over her safety was endearing. No one had ever shown that much concern over her before.
The dread he would someday run away returned, making the air seem chilly despite the steam. Bitter reality sank in as her common sense gave her a talking to. Popping floating bubbles idly, she considered what the hell she was doing here. Did she really want to stay? Gage had said mating was forever, and forever was a long time to spend with someone you barely knew. She couldn’t be stupid about this.
She sank deeper into the tub, reclining her head back on the porcelain rim. She closed her eyes and smiled. Seth had never looked at her the way Gage had in the cave, like he couldn’t take in enough of her. For the first time in a while, she hadn’t felt self-conscious about the extra curves on her body. She had felt desired, and it had been amazing. It also made her wonder what the catch was.
Sighing, she began washing her hair. Honestly, she could think of worse fates than being cosmically linked to a hot werewolf forever. It wasn’t like she had much to go back to—as in, no one. Even her cat had run off. She knew what awaited her back home—an empty house, a job she couldn’t care less about, and an empty life.
“How depressing,” she muttered, rinsing her hair out. She wasn’t afraid to be alone because she’d been alone for most of her life. But was she just staying with Gage because she didn’t want to be alone anymore? Sure, there was a spark between them, and more than enough lust to fill a room, but she knew she didn’t love him.
Yet.
Could she grow to love him? Could he grow to love her?
She didn’t know what scared her most: the fact he could someday leave her, or what her life would be like if she decided to walk away from him. Would she regret it?
Feeling more anxious than she’d been when she first got in the tub, Danica got out and dried off after pulling the plug. She dressed in another pretty, white silk bathrobe and was drying her hair while mulling things over when the main door to the suite creaked open.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said, walking into the bedroom. “I need to talk to you.”
That’s when she looked around and realized it hadn’t been the door that had opened. It had been the window.
Inhaling a breath, she started to scream when a gloved hand clamped down over her mouth.
“Good. You’re here,” Onyx said. “We needed to finish our conversation.”
“Gage, are you listening?”
“What?” Gage blinked, snapping back to reality as Nik’s concerned face came into view once more. They were seated in the conference room, the same room Gage had first gotten a glimpse of his lovely Danica half-naked.
Nik looked over his shoulder, at the place on the wall where Gage had been staring. A knowing smile spread across his lips. “Ah, the girl. You were thinking about her.”
“Maybe,” Gage said gruffly, crossing his arms.
Nik leaned back and stretched his arms above his head. “It’s all right. You don’t have to hide your emotions around me. I won’t make fun of you for being a lovesick pup.”
“Shut up.”
“You like it.”
Gage smiled, but the expression seemed wrong. Like he shouldn’t be smiling with so much death and tragedy hanging over his head. Clearing his throat, he sat up and leaned his elbows on the table, his hands clasped together in front of him. “I caught the part about the funerals being in two days. I’ll call their loved ones in a moment so they can make arrangements. Good thing Tony, Erik, and the kid were all locals. At least their families won’t have to travel far.”
Gage tensed, staring at his hands. He could just imagine the blood of his brethren on them…. He had led them to their deaths.
“Stop blaming yourself,” Nik said quietly.
“Who else is there to blame? I was their leader. I should have been there.”
“You can’t be in two places at once.”
“Then I never should have split up the group!”
Nik pressed his lips together. Gage knew by now that meant he was hiding something. “Spit it out,” he snapped, already knowing what Nik was about to say.
Nik sat up and drummed his fingers along the tabletop. “You might want to give the others some space for a while. To grieve.”
“It’s not just to grieve, and you and I both know it. They’re angry with me. They know this is my fault.”
“Dammit, Gage!” Nik said, slamming a fist down on the table. “Stop acting like you’re the only one to blame! You’re not! If anything, Tony, Erik, the kid, they all decided to go. You didn’t make them.”
“But didn’t I? When I commanded them as their Alpha?”
Nik was silent.
Gage was coming apart inside. Wolves felt the loss of a packmate as deeply as a relative. It was one of the quirks of being bonded through pack blood.
But Gage also knew that while their mistrust was natural, since he was the leader of a mission gone horribly wrong, it had been there far longer. Malachite had ruled with an iron fist. His atrocities and the abuse of his pack would linger for many years. Gage knew taking on the position of packmaster was not going to be easy, not when he had a band of abused wolves under his protection.
And how good a job did you do of protecting them?
Restless, Gage stood and paced.
Nik watched him silently from his seat.
“We’re still no closer to finding out who was responsible for the hit on my mate,” Gage said.
“I’ll put the word out, and I’ll ask Penelope to do the same. The name ‘Mistress Black’ is bound to pop up again. Still sounds like mafia involvement, if
you ask me.”
“But why? Why kill my mate? What do they have to gain by knocking me out of the leadership position?”
Nik sighed hard. “That I can’t tell you.” He looked at Gage warily. “Have you decided when you’re having the mating ceremony?”
“I can’t possibly think about that now, not after the massacre that just happened.”
“The Blood Moon rises in three nights.”
“And we have three wolves to bury the day after tomorrow!” Gage roared.
Nik stood, his voice every bit as steely as his brother’s. “I’m aware of that. But regardless of what happened in those woods, you are our leader, and to remain so, you have to mate before the Blood Moon sets. It’s in the law.”
Gage thought he would blow a fuse. With a roar, he fisted his hands, tempted to throw something but knowing it wouldn’t solve the problem at hand. “Damn our laws,” he growled. “Can we not have a few days to grieve?”
Nik looked at him with sympathy, resting a hand on his shoulder. “The Blood Moon Law is a magical rite. You can’t risk losing Danica and your pack forever. Take some time to grieve. I can call the families.”
“No,” Gage said, grasping his brother’s hand and squeezing. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m not helpless. I can call.”
“Take care of yourself, brother. And don’t forget there’s nothing wrong with letting others help you. You can’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
Gage smiled slightly. “But I sure as hell can try.”
Concern weighed down Nik’s sharp features. “True, but how long will you last before you break?”
He started to turn to leave when a thought crossed Gage’s mind. “Do you think it was planned?”
Nik paused. “What?”
“The attack in the woods. What if… What if it was someone in our pack trying to kill Danica?”
“Gage—”
“No, listen. What if when Onyx failed to kill Danica, the traitor intentionally lured us out to the woods, knowing it was a trap? What if they hoped to kill any threat to the Alpha-hood with one stone? Killing Danica would mean I couldn’t be an Alpha, since I marked her. Killing me would remove me from the picture permanently, and killing you would remove any threat of vengeance. It’d be a clean sweep—and a strong move for power.”
Nik shook his head. “The pack might be a mess emotionally right now, but I don’t believe for a second any of them would be out to get you like that. You’re not Malachite.”
Gage shivered at the mention of the cruel ex-Alpha’s name. “And I never will be,” he murmured, a promise to himself.
Nik smiled. “No. You’re too kind. You’re a damn good Alpha. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise, including yourself.”
He walked off, leaving Gage in the room by himself. He stared into the fire, then out over the bleak, overcast sky. Deep down, it was one of his worst fears, that his pack would betray him. He couldn’t blame them for being wary of a new king. Seeing them so frightened, so scared… it had reminded him of when he’d been alone, with no one to defend him. Except for Nik. Nik had always been there, his guardian, his tattooed angel. Gage knew there was no way he could ever repay Nik for taking care of him when he needed it most, so he had vowed to pay it forward by helping out this pack. Truth be told, he didn’t want to be a leader. But with Nik’s encouragement, he began to believe in himself more and more. That he truly was capable of being a great leader, a guide, a shepherd.
The urge to nurture and protect was still in him. Growing up, Gage’s gentle heart had been a weakness to the kids who bullied him. But as he grew older—and with Nik’s guidance and nonjudgmental love—it became a strength.
He could—would—turn this around.
With renewed hope, he prepared himself mentally for the difficult task of delivering the news to the victims’ families. He had almost made it to the door when he heard Danica scream his name in his mind.
GAGE!
Her terror ripped through him, causing him to stumble and grit his teeth.
“No,” he breathed, the moment he realized what was happening. Bolting through the door, he raced up the stairs.
Nik saw him and immediately raced after him. “What’s wrong?”
“Danica.”
He didn’t stop to talk, only kept running toward his bedroom. The guards stood at their posts, their heads facing forward.
Gage slowed. Maybe he had only imagined his beloved’s voice calling out to him, a reaction from lack of sleep and stress. Then he saw the purple hue over the guards’ eyes and the blank expressions on their faces.
“Damn,” Nik said, “they’ve been enchanted.”
Which could only mean…
Gage tried the door, finding it locked. Not wanting to waste another minute, he kicked the door down and rushed inside, Nik close behind.
He searched the room, mentally and physically, unable to find a paranormal signature or any sign of his Danica.
She was gone.
Since Onyx had gagged her—and threatened to shoot her should she not comply—she’d been pretty quiet. But he didn’t say anything about reaching out to Gage with her mind.
It was weird, and she had no idea if she was doing it right, but she focused every brain cell on Gage’s handsome face. Then she started yelling his name in her head.
Onyx had also tied her hands behind her back. As he guided her out the window and to the edge of the roof, she started having second thoughts about this whole kidnapping thing. Onyx must have sensed it; he pressed the mouth of the gun to the back of her skull.
“Don’t think for one minute I won’t follow through,” Onyx growled into her ear. “It would give me great pleasure to kill you, then march back in there and take out that obnoxious wolf of yours.”
The thought of Gage coming to harm at her expense was too great a pain to bear. Nodding once so he’d get she wouldn’t try anything, Danica let Onyx pull her to him. Before she could blink, he jumped. Her scream was muffled by the handkerchief, her eyes wide as they plummeted toward the ground. Like an animal, Onyx landed on his feet, catching Danica so she wouldn’t injure herself.
Two shadows moved around the side of the house. She recognized them as two of Gage’s packmates. Spotting her bound and gagged, one of them swore and started to transform when Onyx aimed and shot him. The bullet went clean through his head. The man’s body arched backward, and Danica’s eyes widened farther as he hit the ground, dead.
“Let’s go!” Onyx hissed, dragging her across the lawn toward the woods.
The second were had changed, coming up behind them in a blur of snarls and brown fur. Onyx whirled, placing Danica in front of him as a shield and planting the gun against her temple.
The wolf drew up short, lips pulled back over its fangs, ears pinned low against its head.
“Tell your master not to pursue us, or I’ll kill her,” Onyx demanded.
Danica trembled against him, not sure if she should be more afraid of her captor or the ferocious, giant wolf pawing at the dirt like a bull about to charge.
After a stare down, the wolf at last turned and ran back toward the house, howling. Danica’s eyes flashed up to her bedroom window to see Gage.
Though he was too far away for her to tell for certain, she swore their eyes met. It was a feeling she had inside, a rush of hope that was quickly extinguished when Onyx took her into the woods.
This part of Harper’s Forest wasn’t nearly as ominous as that which surrounded the witch’s cabin, but it still made her skin crawl to be handled so roughly by Onyx.
Her heart pounded in her chest as panic set in, making it harder to think.
You have to stay calm. You can’t afford to lose focus in case an opportunity to escape or to see landmarks shows up. If she could give Gage directions and clues, maybe she could guide him to where Onyx was taking her.
A black SUV was parked along a dirt path. Onyx shoved her in the backseat, then walked around toward
the driver’s side.
Danica immediately tried going for the door handle while his back was turned, but he grabbed her hair and yanked her away.
She glared at him as he started the engine, her scalp burning. She had a hundred questions and couldn’t ask any of them.
Closing her eyes, Danica focused on sending info to Gage. Black SUV. License Plate 067HGNM. At least, she hoped that’s what it was. She’d only been able to catch a glimpse of it.
“Oh, no you don’t.”
Danica had just enough time to open her eyes and see the butt of the gun flying toward her skull. There was a cracking sound, followed by a flash of pain, and then darkness pulled her under.
As Gage climbed through the window and leapt from the roof, he couldn’t get the image out of his head of his mate staring back at him, her green eyes wide with fear. If Onyx hurt her…
He would kill him, either way. No one broke into his house and kidnapped his mate without paying the price.
With fury running through his veins, he started to shift when Nik yelled, “Wait!”
Gage changed as fast as he could, ignoring his brother. If Nik wasn’t as fast a shifter, Gage might have actually made it all the way to the woods before the great brown wolf pounced on him, and the two went rolling through the grass. Desperate and panicked, Gage snapped his teeth at Nik, growling as he tried bucking him off.
Stop it! Nik yelled telepathically.
What the hell are you doing? Gage yelled back. They’re getting away!
We’re in no shape to chase them down. There are too few of us.
Then let me go after them alone.
No, Nik said firmly, growling low in his throat.
Gage paused. Are you working with Onyx?
Nik barked a laugh. Don’t be stupid. You couldn’t pay me to cooperate with thug-ilk like Onyx. I thought you knew me better than that.
I don’t know what to believe.
We need a plan. We need to regroup the others.